Simu Liu Reveals How He Got in the 'Best Shape of My Life'

When the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in March 2020, it forced production to halt on countless movies and television shows. One of those films was Marvel's Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which had just begun filming that February in Sydney, Australia. This was especially frustrating for actor Simu Liu, who had just gotten his big break when he was cast as the lead character in the film.

As Liu explained to Jesse Ferguson on the latest episode of his Dinner's on Me podcast, exacerbating his disappointment was the fact that he had been training hard for months leading up to production to get himself into superhero shape. The 34-year-old said that he had only been filming for four or five weeks when everything shut down, and it was right before he was to shoot his first shirtless scene.

"I was in the best shape of my life, Jesse, I swear to God, I was in the best shape of my life," Liu recalled. "I had gotten to Australia in October of the year before and basically just worked out. I did nothing but worked out. I basically lived in the gym until we started shooting and I'm not even kidding you, the day before my, big shirtless fight scene, we shut down."

Production on the film resumed in August of that year, but as Liu admitted, he had not been keeping up with his workout regime during that time.

"And so of course when I get the call, and they're like, we're starting back up again," he told Ferguson. "First week of shooting is like the shirtless stuff, so I'm like, oh my god, I got to get back—if only it worked like that. But I had just been like, eating, I had just been sitting at home for four months playing Animal Crossing. So I really wish I had put a better foot forward."

Obviously, as the host pointed out, Liu still looked great when the movie finally hit theaters. And his career has since exploded with a scene-stealing role in Barbie, as well as a handful of upcoming projects currently in the works. But for anyone who had their life disrupted by the pandemic, his frustration is painfully relatable.